BILL NUMBER: AB 923	CHAPTERED  10/10/99

	CHAPTER   841
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   OCTOBER 10, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   OCTOBER 8, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   SEPTEMBER 9, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   SEPTEMBER 2, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 30, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 17, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 23, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 18, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 28, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Hertzberg

                        FEBRUARY 25, 1999

   An act to amend Section 369b of, and to add Section 1463.12 to,
the Penal Code, to add Section 1201.1 to the Public Utilities Code,
and to amend Section 42001 of, and to add Sections 42001.16 and
42007.4 to, the Vehicle Code, relating to vehicles.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 923, Hertzberg.  Railroad grade crossings.
   (1) Under existing law, it is an infraction, punishable by a base
fine of not exceeding $100 for any person to drive a vehicle to the
left side of the highway at railroad grade crossings, to fail to stop
at a railroad or rail transit signal or grade crossing under
specified conditions, or to operate certain vehicles and fail to stop
those vehicles not less than 15 feet or more than 50 feet from the
nearest rail of the track before traversing the railroad crossing.
Existing law provides for increased fines for subsequent convictions
of these infractions.
   Existing law authorizes a court in a county with a population
greater than 500,000 to order any person convicted of the infractions
specified above, relating to driving a vehicle to the left side of
the highway at a railroad grade crossing or failing to stop at a
railroad or rail transit signal or grade crossing under certain
conditions, among other transit-related traffic violations, to attend
a traffic school that offers, as part of its curriculum, a film on
rail transit safety.
   This bill would authorize a court in a county with a population
greater than 500,000 to order any person to attend a traffic school
that offers, as part of its curriculum, a film on rail transit safety
when that person has been convicted of the infraction specified
above, relating to operating certain vehicles and failing to stop
those vehicles not less than 15 feet or more than 50 feet from the
nearest rail of the track before traversing the railroad crossing.
   The bill would change the base fine for a violation of the above
described provisions regarding driving on the left side of the
highway at railroad grade crossings, failing to stop at a railroad or
rail transit signal or grade crossing, or operating certain vehicles
and failing to stop those vehicles in the manner described above
from the nearest rail of the track to a fine of $100, to a fine not
exceeding $200, or to a fine not exceeding $250, depending upon the
number of prior convictions for a violation or violations of these
offenses.
   The bill would make conforming changes.
   (2) Under existing law, all fines and forfeitures imposed and
collected for crimes, other than parking offenses, resulting from a
filing in a court are required to be deposited with the county
treasurer and distributed in accordance with a specified formula each
month to the state, counties, and cities.
   This bill would require, notwithstanding the specified
distribution for fines, forfeitures, and assessments, that of the
fines, forfeitures, and assessments collected for convictions of the
transit-related infractions specified above, the first 30% be
allocated by the county treasurer to a transit district or
transportation commission, if the offense occurred in an area where
that transit district or transportation commission provides rail
transportation, or, if there is no transit district or transportation
commission providing rail transportation in the area where the
offense occurred, that the first 30% of the amount collected to be
allocated to the general fund of the county in which the offense
occurred, to be used, in either case, only for public safety and
public education purposes relating to railroad grade crossings, with
the balance to be deposited by the county treasurer in accordance
with the existing formula specified above.  The bill would limit the
amount expended for the specified public safety and public education
purposes to the amount of fines, forfeitures, and assessments
allocated pursuant to the above to the transit district,
transportation commission, or county.  The bill would make a similar
allocation of revenues derived from fees collected from persons
required or permitted to attend traffic violator schools because of
convictions of these same infractions.  By imposing additional
administrative duties on counties, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   The bill would require the Public Utilities Commission, in
consultation with the Department of Transportation to adopt rules and
regulations prescribing uniform standards regarding the time after
the warning signal begins at a railroad crossing at which traffic
enforcement shall begin, after public hearings and consultation with
transit districts or transportation commissions and multicounty rail
transit entities, established under specified provisions of existing
law, that provide rail transportation.
  (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 369b of the Penal Code is amended to read:
   369b.  (a) This section shall only apply to counties with a
population greater than 500,000.
   (b) The court may order any person convicted of a rail transit
related traffic violation, as listed in subdivision (c), to attend a
traffic school which offers, as a part of its curriculum, a film
developed or caused to be developed by a transportation commission or
authority on rail transit safety.
   (c) For a first offense, a court may, at its discretion, order any
person cited for any of the following violations to attend a traffic
school offering a rail transit safety film prepared by a county
transportation commission or authority, pay an additional fine of one
hundred dollars ($100), or both:
   (1) Section 369g.
   (2) Section 369i.
   (3) Subdivision (c) of Section 21752 of the Vehicle Code,
involving railroad grade crossings, or Section 22451 or 22452 of that
code.
   (d) For a second or subsequent violation as provided in
subdivision (c), a court shall order a person to pay an additional
fine of up to two hundred dollars ($200) and to attend a traffic
school offering a rail safety film prepared by a county
transportation commission or authority.
   (e) All fines collected according to this section shall be
distributed pursuant to Section 1463 of the Penal Code.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1463.12 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   1463.12.  Notwithstanding Sections 1463 and 1464 of this code and
Section 76000 of the Government Code, moneys that are collected for a
violation of subdivision (c) of Section 21752 of the Vehicle Code,
involving railroad grade crossings, or Section 22451 or 22452 of the
Vehicle Code, and that are required to be deposited with the county
treasurer pursuant to Section 1463 of this code shall be allocated as
follows:
   (a) If the offense occurred in an area where a transit district or
transportation commission established under Division 12 (commencing
with Section 130000) of the Public Utilities Code provides rail
transportation, the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be
allocated to the general fund of that transit district or
transportation commission to be used only for public safety and
public education purposes relating to railroad grade crossings.
   (b) If there is no transit district or transportation commission
providing rail transportation in the area where the offense occurred,
the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be allocated to
the general fund of the county in which the offense occurred, to be
used only for public safety and public education purposes relating to
railroad grade crossings.
   (c) The balance of the amount collected shall be deposited by the
county treasurer under Section 1463.
   (d) A transit district, transportation commission, or a county
that is allocated funds pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) shall
provide public safety and public education relating to railroad grade
crossings only to the extent that those purposes are funded by the
allocations provided pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b).
  SEC. 3.  Section 1201.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to
read:
   1201.1.  The commission, in consultation with the Department of
Transportation, shall adopt rules and regulations prescribing uniform
standards regarding the time after the warning signal begins at a
railroad crossing at which traffic enforcement shall begin, after
public hearings and consultation with transit districts or
transportation commissions and multicounty rail transit entities
established under Division 12 (commencing with Section 130000), that
provide rail  transportation.
  SEC. 4.  Section 42001 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
   42001.  (a) Except as provided in Section 42000.5, 42001.1,
42001.2, 42001.3, 42001.5, 42001.7, 42001.8, 42001.9, 42001.11,
42001.12, 42001.14, 42001.15, or Section 42001.16 or subdivision (b)
or (c) of this section, or Article 2 (commencing with Section 42030),
every person convicted of an infraction for a violation of this code
or of any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code shall be
punished as follows:
   (1) By a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100).
   (2) For a second infraction occurring within one year of a prior
infraction which resulted in a conviction, a fine not exceeding two
hundred dollars ($200).
   (3) For a third or any subsequent infraction occurring within one
year of two or more prior infractions which resulted in convictions,
a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
   (b) Every person convicted of a misdemeanor violation of Section
2800, 2801, or 2803, insofar as they affect failure to stop and
submit to inspection of equipment or for an unsafe condition
endangering any person, shall be punished as follows:
   (1) By a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50) or imprisonment in
the county jail not exceeding five days.
   (2) For a second conviction within a period of one year, a fine
not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100) or imprisonment in the
county jail not exceeding 10 days, or both that fine and
imprisonment.
   (3) For a third or any subsequent conviction within a period of
one year, a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or
imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or both
that fine and imprisonment.
   (c) A pedestrian convicted of an infraction for a violation of
this code or any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this code shall
be punished by a fine not exceeding fifty dollars ($50).
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any local public
entity that employs peace officers, as designated under Chapter 4.5
(commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code,
the California State University, and the University of California
may, by ordinance or resolution, establish a schedule of fines
applicable to infractions committed by bicyclists within its
jurisdiction.  Any fine, including all penalty assessments and court
costs, established pursuant to this subdivision shall not exceed the
maximum fine, including penalty assessment and court costs, otherwise
authorized by this code for that violation.  If a bicycle fine
schedule is adopted, it shall be used by the courts having
jurisdiction over the area within which the ordinance or resolution
is applicable instead of the fines, including penalty assessments and
court costs, otherwise applicable under this code.
  SEC. 5.  Section 42001.16 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   42001.16.  (a) Every person convicted of an infraction for a
violation of subdivision (c) of Section 21752, involving railroad
grade crossings, or Section 22451 or 22452 shall be punished as
follows:
   (1) For the first infraction, by a fine of one hundred dollars
($100).
   (2) For a second infraction of any of the offenses described in
this subdivision occurring within one year of a prior infraction that
resulted in a conviction, by a fine not exceeding two hundred
dollars ($200).
   (3) For a third or any subsequent infraction of any of the
offenses described in this subdivision occurring within one year of
two or more prior infractions that resulted in convictions, by a fine
not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
   (b) In addition to the fine imposed pursuant to subdivision (a), a
court, in a county in which Section 369b of the Penal Code applies,
may require the person to attend a traffic school as described in
Section 369b of the Penal Code.
  SEC. 6.  Section 42007.4 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
   42007.4.  (a) Notwithstanding Section 42007, revenues derived from
fees collected under Section 42007 from each person required or
permitted to attend traffic violator school pursuant to Section 369b
of the Penal Code as a result of a violation of subdivision (c) of
Section 21752, involving railroad grade crossings, or Section 22451
or 22452 shall be allocated as follows:
   (1) If the offense occurred in an area where a transit district or
transportation commission established under Division 12 (commencing
with Section 130000) of the Public Utilities Code provides rail
transportation, the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be
allocated to the general fund of that transit district or
transportation commission to be used only for public safety and
public education purposes relating to railroad grade crossings.
   (2) If there is no transit district or transportation commission
providing rail transportation in the area where the offense occurred,
the first 30 percent of the amount collected shall be allocated to
the general fund of the county in which the offense occurred, to be
used only for public safety and public education purposes relating to
railroad grade crossings.
   (3) The balance of the amount collected shall be deposited by the
county treasurer under Section 1463 of the Penal Code.
   (4) A transit district, transportation commission, or a county
that is allocated funds pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) shall
provide public safety and public education relating to railroad grade
crossings only to the extent that those purposes are funded by the
allocations provided pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2).
   (b) This section does not apply to the additional twenty-four
dollars ($24) collected under subdivision (a) of Section 42007.1.
  SEC. 7.  Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.  If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
